Marvel's Black Panther & Captain Marvel are Fan Favorites But That Doesn't Mean They'll Be Greenlit Any Time Soon

The path of Marvel Studios to a sweeping dominance of the box office has long been accompanied with certain questions. The chief among those seems to pertain to the issue of diversity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Namely, that there isn't much, and that Marvel head Kevin Feige is a mighty flip-flopper when it comes to exhibiting actual commitment to greenlighting films that don't just star white actors named Chris. Luckily for us, today the pendulum is swinging ever so slightly in the direction of progress: Feige is assuring the public that he's heard our cries, and that we shouldn't worry because both Black Panther and Captain Marvel movies are in development.

They’re both characters that we like, that development work has been done on; it’s continuing to be done on them. It’s a question I get asked more than anything else — more than Iron Man 4, more than Avengers 3. That’s sort of the first time that’s really happened to us. That makes a difference. That’s something we have to pay attention to.

But oh, Feige, I do still worry. Especially when you're all:

I’ve always said we have our plan, and it’s served us very well. There hasn’t been anything that has made us deviate or change from that based on opinions. Because opinions online change, and they alter, and are based on what limited information they have of behind the scenes.

"In development" is a far cry from "being made" in Hollywood terms — and Feige's repeated mantra of "we have our schedule and our schedule is our schedule" is troubling when you take into account that as the head of Marvel studios there are few people in this world with more power to, you know, change the schedule so that the world isn't drowning in white Chris abs by 2017.Do we really need a Thor 3 before we even get a first Black Widow, Captain Marvel, or Black Panther movie? Is that really as crucial to the schedule as Feige's making it sound?

Feige does seem, however, to realize that the pressure is on:

In this particular case, I think it’s a groundswell. and I think it means something substantial.

Now here's hoping he realizes that in this case, sooner is much better than later. And c'mon, look how much fun Captain Marvel has with Peter Quill:

If this is an issue of whether they're running out of Chrises to cast, I'm sure there are some female or people of color also named Chris. Maybe even females who are also people of color.